Experience

Experience (often referred to as experience points or XP) is a measure of a team's actions in the current match. Floating text displays XP as golden numbers above the target's head. Experience is shared between all members of each team, and when enough experience is gained, all Heroes on the team gain a level. Each level gained increases a Hero's stats, and reaching level 4, 7, 10, 13, 16 and 20 grants access to new Talents (Chromie being an exception due to her trait). Heroes begin each match at level 1.

Every level raises a Heroes' Health, Damage and regeneration values. If a hero uses Mana, he/she even gains 10 additional Mana per level. For most Heroes, the increase of damage and hitpoints are 4% per level, but some heroes deviate from that. To rank up the level, a team needs to gather experience points. Experience points are a score that both teams accumulate from various sources with the sole goal of leveling up. Each team starts at the level of 1 and can reach level 30 at most. How much XP each team needs to collect for each level can be found in the following table:

Level

XP to Next

Cumulative XP

1

2010

0

2

2154

2010

3

2154

4164

4

2154

6318

5

2154

8472

6

3303

10626

7

3303

13929

8

3303

17232

9

3303

20535

10

3303

23838

11

4452

27141

12

4452

31593

13

4452

36045

14

4452

40497

15

4452

44949

16

5600

49401

17

5600

55001

18

5600

60601

19

5600

66201

20

9000

71801

21

10000

80801

22

11500

90801

23

13000

102301

24

15000

115301

25

17000

130301

26

19500

147301

27

22000

166801

28

25000

188801

29

28000

213801

30

LAST

241801

This formula is aproximately the total xp needed ( 0-4% difference ) for level x. Only useable for levels above level 5:

Both teams passively receive 23 XP per second 35 seconds after the gates open at the start of a match. Destroying a Fort or Keep will provide your team with a stacking 20% (4.6 XP/s) increase in Passively-earned Experience.In terms of minion waves, it’s about one wave per 2:00.

Since both teams receive this bonus, it has only a small impact on the game, especially only in the early phase of the game. For example, on Cursed Hollow both teams may fight over the first tribute while being on level 3. But one team might just level up to 4 due to this constant XP income. Thus, in some situations it can give you an advantage to just delay a fight.

Gaining XP is done chiefly by soakingminion waves, which spawn every 30 seconds. The most fundamental strategy when it comes to experience in Heroes of the Storm is called "soaking". This practice refers to simply being present in lanes as minion waves die. If someone is there, your team will get the experience. An exception to this rule is when the hero or one of his summons deals the last hit on that minion effectively killing it. Then, the experience is rewarded regardless of the distance.

The Experience Radius (XP-Radius), that you must be within to receive the experience, is approximately as large as the sight radius of a hero. The rule of thumb is that it is a little bit shorter than the sight radius. The experience radius is 12.75 measured from the center points of the hero and the minion. In general, the sight radius of a hero is 12, but it is increased by the collision radius of that hero. Thus, the experience radius is always shorter than the vision radius, but remains dependent on the collision size of the hero.

Since the XP-Radius is identical for all heroes, it is possible to gain a good feeling for the distance. If you have to play defensively on a lane, then it is good to know the XP-Gathering-Distance. It will allow you to to position yourself more risky than necessary.Remember that you only have to dive into that distance while an enemy minion dies and you do not have to dismount to collect the experience.

Abathur is a truly special hero as he has other ways of collecting experience. Not only his body gathers XP, but also his Symbiote that he can cast onto most allied units and structures all over the map allowing him to collect experience globally. The Symbiote is surrounded by the Experience Radius, too. Heroes that consist out of multiple units, like the Lost Vikings consisting out of Olaf, Baleog and Erik, all collect experience based on distance around them. Rexxar’s pet bear Misha collects XP around her, too.

Every minion has a base value for its experience. After every passing minute, the value increases based on a pattern. The value is saved in every minion instance when it spawns at the Core and does not change during the life time of the minion. Since every 30 seconds a new wave of minions spawns, every second wave, starting with the one spawning at the one minute mark, receives better stats including a higher experience reward. In general, the values for the minions do not differ on each map. But the Tomb of the Spider Queen and Lost Cavern have different settings for its minions.[1]

Another source for experience are the enemy structures on the map. Of all destructible buildings, only Towers grant a static number of XP when destroyed, regardless of whether a hero was nearby or not. Destroying a Fort or Keep will provide your team with a stacking 20% increase in Passively-earned Experience. Walls, Gates and Healing Fountains do not grant any experience.

Killing enemy players provides global experience for your team. Global means that the experience is awarded regardless of proximity, allowing something like a damage-over-time effect or long-range spell to kill an enemy from far away without penalty.

A team that is behind the opposing team gets an "underdog bonus" for every enemy hero that is killed. The amount of bonus XP earned per takedown will scale significantly based on how many levels apart the teams are, and caps off at a four-level difference. Bonus XP will be granted for each takedown until team levels become even. Additionally, a team that is ahead in levels now earns fewer experience points for takedowns, and the effects work inversely. Likewise, this handicap ceases when the teams are leveled.[3]

At even levels, hero kills grant 300 XP. This is only 66% of a minion wave's worth of XP. Soak your lanes!

The experience that a team accumulated in a match is completely transferred to the player’s Hero Level progress and for the player's profile in total. These pools exist outside of individual matches, and upon reaching certain levels unlock Loot Chests and other features. However, these levels are reached far more slowly than those during matches, with many matches rewarding less than 1 level in total. The current level and experience accumulated by each team is displayed at the top of the screen throughout each match. The levels and experience of the player's total profile and for individual Heroes can be seen on the profile screen. The amount is doubled when you are using a Stimpack.

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